by Multiple
Raven was quickly grounded when she realized what this meant. “Derek, there’s just one thing. We need to talk first. There’s something I have to tell you. Things may get complicated.” The dread quickly filled back through her veins. She’d have to say the words, the words she was afraid to admit. She was a witch. There was no way around it.
Chapter 5
Snuggled against her future husband, she was still in shock. It was a lot to take in. Derek proposed to her when she least expected it. And yet here they were, ready to build a future together. There was so much left to talk about, and at some point she’d have to tell him the truth. She’s a witch. She was clueless how to actually broach the topic.
Hey sweetheart, would you like bacon or sausage with your eggs, and by the way I’m a witch! Maybe she could bring up Benji. Hey babe, remember when you thought you heard the dog talking? Yeah, that was real, and by the way I’m a witch. Either way she sliced it, it still left her afraid of his response. Would he take it well and simply be surprised or would he freak out never wanting to see her again? It was a scary proposition.
Raven’s head was spinning; she’d just agreed to be Derek’s wife. She loved him, truly she did, but that meant it was time to pull things apart and take a closer look at what it meant for them. There were so many possibilities, but most came with complications. This would touch so many lives, not just her own. And what about children— what would it mean to their families?
Her chest tightened. There were so many things to discuss. It seemed less complicated when it was just about dating somebody. Maybe her family was right. A heavy feeling sat on her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she knew she’d have to deal with the reality of the situation sooner rather than later.
Maybe saying yes was a mistake. Once he learned she was a witch it probably wouldn’t matter anyway. This might be too big to overcome. It could overwhelm him, the fear of the unknown. She wasn’t a mortal like he was. Raven sighed, realizing that things were going to get ugly. The truth was staring her in the face. She’d lied to him, never told him what he was getting in to. Would he be angry or simply curious? She hoped he’d let her explain herself before he ran off screaming in the other direction.
What should have been a magical time, a beautiful moment, left her filled with anxiety instead. The truth could wait one more day, right? She knew the answer to that, even if it was an answer she didn’t want to accept. Derek deserved the truth.
Raven rolled over and gave Derek a kiss, wishing him sweet dreams. Curling into him, she closed her eyes, but sleep had no interest in coming. Her mind was overactive, thinking of every possible outcome. If only she could stop thinking about it for even a moment, she might actually get some sleep. When she did finally drift off, her sleep was fitful. When morning came, she wasn’t ready. This wasn’t going to go well. She was more afraid of his reaction than saying the words out loud.
Derek stretched and rubbed his eyes. “I’m going to make some coffee. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She nodded and rolled back over. How much time could she buy? Raven took a deep breath. She’d have to say something soon.
It didn’t take him long. When he showed back up in the bedroom doorway, eyes wide open, she knew something was wrong. He looked like he saw a ghost.
“What happened?” She almost didn’t want to know.
“The dog…” He could barely speak. He turned to look toward the stairs. “The dog…” he said again. He stood in shock, almost unable to talk.
“Benji?” Oh shit.
“The dog…the dog was talking.” The words felt funny coming out. A talking dog, who says stuff like that? It almost felt like a dream. This couldn’t be real, could it?
“What?” She tried to play it off and remain calm. “What are you talking about? That’s silly. Dogs don’t talk.” Panic filled through Raven, realizing she’d just been thrown into the fire. She’d have to tackle this sooner rather than later.
“The dog, he’s on the sofa. He was talking in his sleep! I heard him. He was talking just like a person, in a man’s voice.” The color drained from his face. How was that even possible? Was he losing his marbles? Dogs don’t talk, and yet he was certain he just heard it…no, he knew what he heard. He was positive.
“But that’s not possible.” She played dumb. She wasn’t ready to have this conversation. “Are you sure?” She went downstairs with him. He practically dragged her.
There he was, sprawled out on the sofa, talking in his sleep. Dammit, Benji!
“Wow! That’s messed up.” Taking his hand, she led him to the kitchen. He was frozen, barely able to move. “Come on, sweetie,” she added. “Let’s get some coffee and try to figure this out.”
He didn’t want to move. His eyes were huge, and finally, mumbling under his breath, he followed Raven to the kitchen. “Did you see that?”
Raven added calming herbs to his coffee and a quick drop of suggestive potion. She hated that she had to do this, but it was for his own good. With her own tea in hand, she handed him the coffee.
He was rambling quickly now, tripping over his words. “He was talking, something about a dove, and the name Charlene. What the hell was that?” The words…nothing made sense.
As his words slowed down, Raven could see the coffee’s mixture starting to work. It was for his protection. She instinctively reached up and fingered the amulet around her neck. She took a deep breath, and cautiously timed her words. She had to replace what he’d seen with a new suggestion. If she didn’t time it right, it might not stick.
“That was weird, right? By the way, you were talking in your sleep last night. It was so strange. You were going on and on about the dog talking like a person. I’m not sure what kind of dream you were having, but you were talking in your sleep last night.” She planted the suggestion and let the potion do the rest.
Derek cocked his head. “What?” Wait…what?
“You had some weird dream or something. You were mumbling in your sleep, something about a talking dog…” she said calmly, giving nothing away.
He rubbed his temples with his fingers. “Really?” He didn’t remember that.
“Yeah, it was kind of funny. You didn’t seem stressed about it, but you did it a few times, then rolled over and went back to sleep.” She continued, hoping it would stick.
“Huh. I wish I remembered my dream.” Derek shook his head, not really sure what happened.
Raven saw calm gently glide across his face. She knew the potion took, because there was no more talk of Benji. He seemed resolved. At least that was behind them. How many more times would she have situations like this? She’d have to tell him soon, admit that she’s a witch. Before returning to the living room, Raven raised her mental voice loudly, hoping to rouse Benji from his sleep. Phew, no more talking…
“Raven, what the hell? I’m sleeping here!” Benji growled out loud, annoyed that his sister disturbed him. He was in the middle of a great dream.
“Shit.” Here we go again.
Benji was just waking up, and didn’t remember she had company.
Derek’s eyes popped open again. He was backing up, this time afraid. Panic filled his face, his eyes went wide, and as he shook his head, Raven groaned.
“Derek, we need to talk.” She wasn’t ready. It’s not like she had a choice now, though.
He spun around, confusion written on his face.
Raven shrugged. “This is going to get complicated, but if you truly want to get married there are some things you’ll need to know.” She took a deep breath and continued, “Once we have this conversation, you’ll need to make a choice. If you choose to keep the knowledge, you’ll retain it. If you opt to let go, you’ll lose your ability to remember any of this…and me, well, our relationship.”
“What the…” he stammered, his jaw hanging open.
“I’m sorry to do this, honey.” Raven did a quick spell. He sat on a chair, held gently in place, while they had the conversation. He didn�
�t understand why he couldn’t get up. He also wouldn’t be able to leave quite yet; he just knew he was fixated.
She hated to do obvious magic before somebody, and preferred the discretion of herbs and potions, but there was no time for that now. Besides, once he knew she was a witch, there was no going back.
“Raven, what’s going on?” Derek was confused, nervous, and completely unready for what he was about to hear.
“Derek, there are some things I have to tell you. It’s going to get a little bit bumpy, but please hear me out. You have free will to shut me down and leave before I finish, but there’s an aura of suggestion around you, suggesting you stay in place until we finish.”
“An aura of suggestion? What the hell does that mean?”
“It will help keep you in place when your first instinct may be to flee.”
“Flee? I’m confused. What’s going on? This is freaking me out!”
“Derek, I love you, baby. Due to my family’s by-laws, I wasn’t allowed to tell you this until you proposed marriage. I apologize for that. I know it’s a huge secret to keep, but I had reasons I couldn’t say anything. Here it goes…”
He cut in, “By-laws? Family by-laws?”
“Honey, you need to let me finish. Here it goes…” The words wouldn’t come out. Raven wanted to look in his eyes, the eyes that still adored her, one last time…but it was too late. All that was left was confusion.
Chapter 6
“Derek, I’m a witch – a good witch,” she hurriedly added. “It’s not like the things you saw in movies or read in books growing up, it’s not scary. I’m not scary. It’s just that, well….” She stopped. His jaw was agape. This wasn’t starting well.
“…and I’m her brother,” Benji added. He was sitting nearby, ready to jump into the conversation.
“Benji, could you please leave the room!” Raven scolded. The last thing she needed was an opinionated bulldog interfering in the discussion.
“Brother? What the hell? Witch? Come on…these things aren’t real, are they?” He was stunned. It was too much to absorb. This wasn’t really happening, was it? He must have been dreaming again. Was this some sort of joke? “Is this some weird prank?”
“I wish it was. This is the reason my sister has been against me dating a mortal,” Raven added.
“A mortal?” He cut in. “Wait a minute. You said that like you’re…”
“A witch.” She sighed. “The reason Ziara protested us dating is because of the complications it brings to both of our families.” She hated how this was going. She wasn’t ready for the talk. This wouldn’t end well.
“A witch? What exactly does that mean, besides a talking dog? And why does your dog talk?” He knew the words coming out of his mouth didn’t make sense, but nothing did at this particular moment. His stomach lurched. The entire situation was absurd. Derek’s shoulders tensed.
“Benji is my brother.” Raven sat down on the sofa. She hated this, hated this moment. She knew he’d leave. She’d lose him. It was too much to ask him to accept her lifestyle. “Benji is a dog because he cheated on his wife and she put a curse on him. That’s another story in itself. He’ll return to his witch form, errr, person form, in a few seasons. Our calendars are a little different than yours.”
Derek stared at Benji. She’d asked him to leave, but he didn’t budge. She knew it was his protective nature, but this was a private conversation. Benji shrugged the best he was able. “Yep, dog now, man later…nice to meet you.” He grinned a doggy grin, but all Derek saw was a bunch of teeth.
Derek had so many questions, but his thoughts overwhelmed him. His mouth couldn’t form the words. This couldn’t be real, none of this. He must be imagining things. Did he eat something bad? Was it a dream? What was going on? Was this some sort of joke?
“When you asked me to marry you, it allowed me to reveal my true identity. It’s been a burden not telling you, but I couldn’t. You have to understand, my hands were tied.” Raven continued, “We have a lot to talk about. If you’ll give me the opportunity, we can discuss what this means.” She hesitated. “If you’ll still have me.” She doubted he would be here at the end of the day. It was asking too much.
“This is insane. I’m not quite sure what to say. It’s all too much. Can we talk later? I need to absorb what’s happening.” Was it even real?
“I’m sorry, baby, now that we’re having the conversation we need to have it all the way through. If you stay with me you’ll retain the knowledge, but have to swear to secrecy. If you walk away from our relationship, you’ll lose all memory you had of our time together.” Raven hated that it had to be all or nothing, but those were the rules. They were rules that she couldn’t barter with. Not when the entire witch community was at stake.
“I don’t know what to say.” He stared at her, not quite sure who he was looking at. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“We’ve got all day. We’ll take it bit by bit, block by block, and pull it apart. Then you can decide if you want to put it back together again.”
Derek turned to look at Benji again. It was all too much. Benji was her brother. Her brother was a talking bulldog. She was a witch. Derek was certain he was going crazy.
Raven glared at Benji. He didn’t budge. “Benji, could you leave us alone?”
“I’m going, just trying to lend a hand…err, a paw.” He hoisted his body from the sofa and lumbered into the kitchen.
Derek was still in shock watching the bulldog talk. He shook his head, watching the dog leave the room. “This is real?”
Raven nodded. “Let’s take it one step at a time. When we first went on a date, I had no intention of falling in love. I knew I shouldn’t risk it, but I was drawn to you. The day we met…” she drifted off. “Anyway, I fell in love the way mortals do. It’s amazing. Witches don’t generally have those experiences. I’ll explain that later.”
“Can you start at the witch part? I don’t get it. What does that mean, exactly? How did you become a witch? What does a witch do?” Listening to the words falling from his mouth, he realized how crazy they sounded. “And are you going to hurt me?”
“Hurt you? Oh my gosh, no! Derek, I love you. It’s not what you think.” She exhaled deeply and started again. “Okay, let me back up. My entire family…we’re all witches. I am a witch because I was born into a witch family. My mother and father are witches; my sister, my brother… we’re all witches.” She took another deep breath. “There’s a village, witch families, though not as many pure bred witch families as there once were, with witches mixing with mortals these days…” she stopped, realizing how insane this must sound. “Anyway, the only way for someone to be a witch is to be born to parents who are both blessed with the gift of magical powers, for example, my parents. Once a witch has a child with a mortal, those gifts aren’t passed down. It dilutes our families, and our numbers are dwindling.”
“Okay, so if you had babies with a witch you’d have witch babies, but if you had babies with someone like me, they wouldn’t be a witch?”
“Yes, that’s correct. I was born into my family of witches, and in today’s modern age we have the choice to stay in our witch villages or move out to the suburbs. I chose to move to the modern world, living among mortals, because it offers me more opportunities and experiences. My parents weren’t thrilled, but they’d already gone through it with my sister and brother, so by the time I was ready, they accepted it.”
Derek stared in fascination, but realized there was a lot to take in. He didn’t know if he was more scared or curious. Fear wasn’t really the right word, maybe hesitant. He wanted to know more, his curiosity was strong. And yet, he was almost afraid of what he’d hear. What did this mean?
“So, I came to live here and blend into the neighborhood. I do image consulting, only my clients are other witches. I help them blend into society.” She paused. “Are you okay?”
Derek nodded. He was as okay as he could be after hearing his lover and futu
re wife was a witch.
“I study and use herbs, potions, and work with universal energies and elements. Umm, I do magic. I don’t harm people, I don’t do scary things, and most of the time it’s healing, calming, and soothing things I work with. It takes many years of practice, and while I’m strong in some areas, I’d like to become better with healing. It’s my own area of interest. I’m not going into medicine, but respect healers and study on my own.” She felt like she was rambling.
“Magic? What type of magic?” This was the stuff storybooks are made of. Nothing made sense.
“I don’t know. I don’t really think about the little things I do day to day. I may help heal a bird’s broken wing after it’s flown into a window. They know to seek me out; witches are connected to nature. I can’t heal people, Old Lady Neller does that. I work with small animals on the side— rabbits, turtles, birds. It’s an art really and so incredible, the little changes you can help them with.” Again with the rambling. “Okay, I need to get back on course here. I need to discuss our relationship.”
“You mean the relationship that was based on a lie?” The bite in his voice hurt. He couldn’t hide it. When it came down to it, she came into this relationship fully aware. He felt blindsided.
“Ouch. Will you hear me out?” She wasn’t feeling confident at this point. That last comment hurt.
“Yes, as I apparently don’t have much choice.” She felt the dagger in his tone, sharp as nails.
Raven grew frustrated, but understood his position. “I obviously can’t just come out and tell everyone I’m a witch. It’s dangerous to my family and people. Mortals are very curious, and would push to discover more, prod, poke, and threaten our very existence. We need to blend into society, it’s crucial. On the other hand, imagine your reaction…”
“I don’t have to imagine. I’m living through it.”
“Derek, the relationship we have is real.” How could she get that point across to him? This didn’t have to change things. She loved him, pure and simple.